A college student in Larimie, Wyoming is hooked up to a respirator
tonight after being beaten, nearly to death Tuesday night. Police and family
and friends believe the attack happened because the victim is gay. Two
mountain bikers found 22-year-old Matt Shepard about 2 miles from a bar in
Larimie, about 20 hours after the attack. He was tied to a fence and his skull
had been smashed in about 2 inches. Three suspects are in custody; police
expect to arrest more. Doctors don't know if Shepard will survive.

LARAMIE, Wyo. -- A gay student at the University of Wyoming was savagely
beaten, burned and left to die tied to a wooden fence outside Laramie, 30
miles northwest of Cheyenne.

Passersby discovered the bloody and unconscious body of Matthew Shepard,
a 22-year-old political science major, a mile northeast of Laramie on
Wednesday evening. His skull had been smashed with a blunt object.

Shepard was in critical condition and on a respirator at Poudre Valley
Hospital in Fort Collins. He was last heard from Tuesday evening when he
called friends from a bar.

Three University of Wyoming students were arrested Thursday in connection
with the beating and were scheduled to be in court today. Authorities said
they expect more arrests.

Shepard's body was found by two motorcyclists who at first thought he was
a scarecrow because of the way he was positioned on the fence, said Albany
County Sheriff Gary Puls.

Police were investigating whether the brutal beating was motivated by
Shepard's sexual orientation. He had twice been beaten recently and attributed
those attacks to his open homosexuality, friends said.

His small size, open personality and homosexuality combined to make him a
target for viciousness, friends said.

Puls, who initially characterized the attack as a "hate crime," was later
asked if it was an anti-gay attack. "At the present time we are not confirming
that," Puls said.

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